House clearance strategy

poppystar

theoretica said:

Sounds like you want a house clearance company - they will take everything (some will even clean afterwards if that is what you want) or only what you ask them to and the good ones sort out what can be reused or recycled.

The one thing you need to check is that they have a waste licence.  There was a case round here where flytipping was found which included an address and it turned out to have been cowboys paid to clear a house.  If the person paying for house clearance can demonstrate they checked for a waste licence then they are protected if this happens - companies are likely to have this on their website.

How to I do my own check into whether they have a ‘waste licence’. The websites I’ve looked at variously say they are “registered” or they do “environment agency approved work” etc. What should I look for and is there an independent way of verifying it? Thanks.

JGB1955

poppystar said:

How to I do my own check into whether they have a ‘waste licence’. The websites I’ve looked at variously say they are “registered” or they do “environment agency approved work” etc. What should I look for and is there an independent way of verifying it? Thanks.

You can check here:
Waste carriers, brokers and dealers (data.gov.uk)

MsMoon

Savvy_Sue said:

Our house clearance company was brilliant, did everything, would clear cupboards and clean everything afterwards. We used them first to do an initial clear, to 'stage' the property for sale, and then to do the final clear and clean. And they aimed to get as much as possible recycled. This was after the auction house had been in and taken what they were prepared to sell, and they came recommended from the auction house. 

So IF there is anything saleable, I'd use an auction house, then ask for a recommended house clearance company. If not, I might still ring round a few auction houses and see if they work with a particular company. 

Some charities will offer a full house clearance, but that's what you need, not just a 'take what we think we can sell' but a full house clearance. 

If you're in Berkshire, I can give you a recommendation. 

I wouldn't do a skip for the same reason as I wouldn't do a tip run or 60: too much like hard work, especially if you have health issues, plus I'd expect you to need more than one skip for the contents of a house, plus a skip doesn't generally recycle (except the informal skip-diving which goes on when people see something they like the look of - conversely you may find your skip full of
someone else's rubbish!)

Cost: not cheap. We paid over £1000 some years ago, but believe me it was worth every single penny ... It was a large house, with a lot of 'stuff' in it! 

I don't know what charity will take everything? - the ones I called for my recent house clearance are very picky. BHF only took one item in the end.